Bandit Attack
by Maylen
Summary: Bandits decide to attack Halt while he's on his way home, and are out for blood.


**A/N: I do not own anything! The Ranger's Apprentice and its respective characters are all owned by John Flanagan. I only own the storyline and the bandits.**

Halt from the Ranger's Apprentice Series

Like all bandits, they seem to have this idea of confidence; way too much of it, in fact. That's why when a really short hooded figure on a shaggy pony comes up to a band of bandits, well; of course they aren't going to take him seriously. Especially when you're on a road that's in the middle of nowhere. Sadly for the bandits, they don't know that the hooded figure wearing a ranger's cloak that has several shades of green, over a green tunic, with matching breeches, boots, and of course, his weapons belt was also concealed by his cloak. The bandits, unsurprisingly, found the ranger's longbow no threat whatsoever. They grew even more confident when the hooded figure slowly passed them and they caught a glimpse of his light brown beard with specks of gray in it. Taking him for an old man, the bandits thought he would be an easy target.

Sadly, the bandits didn't recognize him as the famous Ranger Halt. Halt has been very successful in his line of duty and is a very famous person throughout Araluen. He is also known to be the one who brought the Ranger Corps back together.

Halt, always alert and ready for action, knew that the bandits were planning to attack him while he had his back turned. Just mere seconds later, one of the bandits threw a dagger that would have lodged into Halt's back. Halt nudged his shaggy pony, Abelard, and Abelard sidestepped at the right moment and the dagger missed Halt by a few inches and became embedded into a tree.

Halt shot an arrow at one of the bandits so fast; that the bandits didn't even realize what had happened until one of them fell over dead. Enraged, one of the bandits rushed at him. Before he was able to even take a second step, an arrow was shot right into his heart. The bandit quickly fell over, dead.

Two more bandits rushed at him while the third started running away. Halt quickly killed the two bandits that rushed at him and shot the third bandit down in under five seconds. He then realized that there was a bandit several feet away. Halt quickly nocked his arrow and waited for the right moment to shoot. It wasn't something you can think about. No form of logic that would explain the accuracy of shooting at such a far distance. Instead, it was something that was drilled into your body with all of the hard training and several years of experience that would make this type of shot possible. Instinct was the only thing Halt was able to rely on in this situation.

One, two, three, the seconds seemed to go by very slowly. The bandit was so clear, as if he only stood a few feet away. Then, Halt felt the moment to let go of the arrow, the moment where only pure instinct and several years of practice would be able to take out that bandit. One moment the bandit was still running and the next, he was dead on the dirt road.

Halt, after he finished killing all of the bandits, nudged Abelard into a gallop. If he didn't hurry, he'd be late. He'd get into trouble if he was late to his own party. Yeah, it's a pain, he thought, but the most important people he cared about would be there. That was the only reason why he'd ever go into such a crowded area. And, he was also forced, to his dismay, to get a haircut. Halt liked his shaggy hair and the rumors about him using his saxe knife to cut his hair were true. He wasn't bothered by the rumors; he didn't care about what people said about him at all.

Halt finally made it to his own party. Everyone who he considered a friend was there. Pauline, his wife, gave him a kiss on the cheek. Will, who was like a son to him, greeted him with a hug. Crowly, Halt's oldest friend patted him on the back. Horace, who greatly admired Halt, gave him a huge smile.

After all of the greetings were over, Halt sat next to Will.

"What took you so long?" Will asked.

Halt looked at him and said, "I ran into some trouble along the road."

"What kind of trouble?" Will asked.

"Oh, just a few bandits that asked me for a lesson."

If the bandits really did learn a lesson, they wouldn't have the chance to repent for their sins since they were already dead.


End file.
